Joe Zawinul & The Zawinul Syndicate: Vienna Nights: Live at Joe Zawinul's Birdland (2005)

Jim Santella

Senior Contributor since 1997

Jim Santella has been contributing CD reviews, concert reviews and DVD reviews to AAJ since 1997. His work has also appeared in Southland Blues, The L.A. Jazz Scene, and Cadence Magazine.

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Published: August 18, 2005

Joe Zawinul & The Zawinul Syndicate: Vienna Nights: Live at Joe Zawinul's Birdland

Recorded at Birdland in Vienna, Austria last May and September for his own label, Joe Zawinul's powerhouse unit gives this live audience quite a thrill. Keyboards, percussion, provocative bass lines, and evocative vocals fill the room with unique sounds.

Zawinul affects a vocoder air in conversation with Arto Tuncboyaciyan on "Do You Want Some Tea, Grandpa?" with impressive results. The slow, sensitive ballad reveals one side of the Zawinul Syndicate. Driving tirades and muscular fits of passion reveal the other side.

Allowing vocals to merge with fast-flying instrumental power throughout the two-CD set, Zawinul captures the spirit of progressive music. He's never been one to sit back and let the world pass him by. The bandleader invites unique people into his ensemble and gives them plenty of room to stretch out creatively. A blazing-fast "Rooftops of Vienna" features fiery guitarist Scott Henderson in a white-hot affair. Drums, vocals, bass, and keyboards pound it out at a frenetic pace. Just listening to them becomes exhausting. It doesn't get much hotter than this.

Zawinul stirs the melting pot of cultural influences from all over the world; his contemporary music inspires folks from all over. Vocal chants, impressions of native dances, and crazy, mixed up conversations (both vocal and instrumental) appeal to our intellect. The Zawinul Syndicate's uplifting performance provides the adrenaline that keeps us on top of our game. "Boogie Woogie Waltz" begins with a riveting machine gun fusillade and continues with heart-pumping anxiety. And you thought those new amusement park rides were thrilling? Zawinul throws a lot more at you than any old roller coaster could.

Duke Ellington's "Come Sunday" is interpreted calmly and serenely with spiritual vocals by Sabine Kabongo. Featuring the leader's exquisite piano solo, "Borges Buenos Aires" flows with a mesmerizing tango groove. "Badia" drives with frenetic energy. Following from his early experiences with Cannonball Adderley and Weather Report, Zawinul extends the horizon on his new adventure. His live appearances create quite a stir: not for the faint of heart.

Visit Joe Zawinul on the web.

Track Listing: CD1: Y'Elena; Two Lines; Do You Want Some Tea, Grandpa?; Chabiba; Blue Sound / Note 3; Rootops of Vienna; Louange; East 12th Street Band. CD2: Caf� Andalusia; Borges Buenos Aires; Tower of Silence; Intro to a Mighty Theme; Come Sunday; Three Postcards; Badia; Boogie Woogie Waltz.

Personnel: Joe Zawinul: keyboards, vocoder; Amit Chatterjee: guitar, vocals; Scott Henderson, Alegre Correa: guitar; Linley Marthe: bass; Nathaniel Townsley: drums; Karim Ziad: percussion, drums; Sabine Kabongo, Aziz Sahmaoui, Arto Tuncboyaciyan: percussion, vocals; Manolo Badrena: percussion.

Record Label: BirdJAM / BHM
Style: Fusion/Progressive Rock